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CBA determined to remain ahead of the field
Vietnam is our committed market that we will keep expanding and investing in with our wide range of developed technology.
The Commonwealth Bank – Ho Chi Minh City Branch (CBA) has managed to stay ahead of the pack due to its long-term commitment to its customers. Ross William Munn, general director of CBA in Vietnam, talks about the secrets of the bank’s success.
Many Vietnamese banks are in trouble due to local economic slowdown, but Commonwealth Bank – Ho Chi Minh City Branch (CBA) is flying high. How has CBA overcome these challenges in Vietnam?
The global economy has been experiencing a tough period since 2008 till now and Vietnam is not an exception. Our economy has been impacted by the high inflation leading to a decrease in consumer’s confidence. The total retail turnover, excluding price hike factor, recently reported by General Statistics Office, has risen by 3.9 per cent year-on-year till end of November 2011.
In banking industry, many banks are finding it difficult to mobilise money from their customers due to the interest rate cap. Regardless of these issues, which I think we would find a solution for them in the near future, Vietnam is our committed market that we will keep expanding and investing in with our wide range of developed technology for secure products and convenient services.
As one of global leading banks, we are rated among the top 12 safest banks and in the top 37 largest banks in the world by Global Finance in 2011. With a strong capital base and 100 years of experience back in Australia, we are strategically transferring the best practices to serve our customers in Vietnam.
At the same time, like any organisations, we are actively listening to our customers’ feedback in order to excel our customer services every day. Our people are also a key supporting factor for us to be even stronger during the difficult time. In our recent customer experience survey conducted annually by an independent agent, 95 per cent customers are happy with our services and banking with us because of bank staff’s friendliness and enthusiasm.
I’m very pleased with the outcome as our differentiated customer services are well recognised. We are proud of our people who always place customers at the centre of everything we do.
What are the most impressive business operations of CBA throughout three years in Vietnam?
CBA Group is one of the leading banks in Australia and always plays an important role in the financial industry of this country. The bank commenced operations in 1912 and since then it has been providing banking, investment, insurance, brokerage and other financial services to more than 11 million customers in Australia and around the world. On the Australian stock exchange, the group is the largest financial corporation in terms of market capitalisation (9/2011).
Moreover, this year we have received a number of outstanding awards from many well-recognised and reputable media in financial sector such as “The best cash management bank in Australia” by the The Asian Banker, “Bank of the Year” by Money Magazine, CANSTAR Best Value Australia – Small Business Banking, and many other valuable awards.
In Vietnam, we have also achieved a number of significant and important milestones and continuously exceeded our set targets in many areas. Our remittance volume was up 300 per cent, compared to last year’s, a strong and solid increase in both deposit and loan balances, and equally important is happy staff and happy customers.
What is CBA Vietnam’s plan next year, are you optimistic about this market?
We believe the government is taking appropriate actions. Stabilisation is an essential factor for our economic development. With the fast moving growth of the Vietnamese economy, there is an increasing demand for development funds and working capital. As we plan to be here for a long time, we want to take part in this young country’s dynamic development.
As Vietnamese are technology and internet savvy, we plan to introduce our internet banking platform by second quarter of 2012. This platform is safe, secure and brings banking convenience to our customers. We will also introduce new transactional currencies including GBP, EUR, SGD and JPY.
This is to accommodate the increasing demands for trade business of our customers as well as the prospects. Besides, we are also committed to keep enhancing our products and services to better meet our customers’ needs and expectations. In particularly, our valued customers can always enjoy a competitive pricing as well as experience personalised and friendly customer service.
These are part of our everyday actions in order to achieve our vision – to be Vietnam’s finest financial service organisation through excelling our customer service.
CBA has invested in VIB since 2010. And this year you raised shareholders in VIB up to 20 per cent, will this be a long-term investment?
As I mentioned above, Vietnam’s economy recently has been in the challenging period but we foresee a huge development potential in the future. The investment in VIB clearly showed our firm commitment for a long term investment in Vietnam.
As VIB is a potential financial institution ranked among top 10 largest banks in Vietnam and we share a common vision in customer service excellence, I strongly believe this relationship will foster the sustainable growth of both organisations in Vietnam.
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